cardenolide

car·den·o·lide

cardenolide

one of the two groups of naturally occurring cardiac glycosides; found in plants including Digitalis, Nerium, Thevetia, Cryptostegia, Euonymus, Gomphocarpus, Asclepias, Corchorus, Convallaria, Gerbera, Adonis, Acokanthera spp. Those from Digitalis spp. are used medicinally.

Cardenolides are a secondary chemical that milkweeds use as a defense compound; many plant and animal species use cardenolides in this manner, in particular, monarch butterfly larva sequester them from feeding on milkweed.

Various groups have confirmed the existence of these mammalian cardenolides (7-9), and although their physiological roles and pharmacologic actions are not fully understood, these compounds and the plant-derived compounds have similar structures, including a steroid backbone to which a lactone ring and sugars are attached (8-10).

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